The police swooped in on Baffna, against whom a lookout notice had been issued, minutes after he landed from South Africa.

Officials investigating the case said Baffna had fled to South Africa after the police began a crackdown on bookies following the arrest of cricketers S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan for alleged spot-fixing.

“One main accused Sanjay Baffna has been secured at airport while trying to enter the country,” the CB-CID said in a statement.

Sources said immigration officials at the airport tipped off the police about Baffna’s arrival.

In a related development, a local court dismissed the bail petitions of seven bookies arrested by the CB-CID last week.

On May 17, the city police had busted a betting racket involving the T20 league and arrested six bookies. The police had recovered Rs 14 lakh from the bookies.

Later, the police had arrested six more bookies from Coimbatore and Tirupur.